The Movie I Watched Last Night LIV
The A-Team: "The Children of Jamestown"
Originally airing Jan. 30, 1983, this is the first hour-long episode of the show -- and the first starring Dirk Benedict as Faceman. The title sequence better captures the A-Team's origin than the pilot movie did, but the episode is little more than a watered down riff on the Jonestown massacre. John Saxon's Martin James, the erstwhile leader of a religious cult, is shallow and cartoony, little more than sunglasses and pseudo-religious blather. The team enters the cult's compound to rescue a girl held hostage, gets captured themselves, outwits the cult faithful in a death hunt, construct weapons at a nearby farmhouse, and in the end, win the day. The scene in which Faceman tries to woo a woman by explaining the adrenalin rush of their adventures, describing what he calls the "jazz" is silly but enjoyable. And in the end, this episode establishes what might be the formula for future shows: get hired, get captured, escape, construct new weapons or a vehicle, succeed against the odds, crack wise. Repeat.

Soundtrack: Meshuggah, "Nothing"